Club information

Nickname: The Royal Blues

Ground: Veltins-Arena

Capacity: 61,673

Founded: 1904

Schalke 04 takes its name from the Schalke district of the city of Gelsenkirchen, the club’s original home. The club was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963 but has yet to win the competition

The Royal Blues are one of the most popular football teams in Germany - even though major success has been rare since Schalke’s heyday in the 1930s and early 1940s. The club has more than 100,000 members making it the second largest club in Germany.

Schalke 04 has a long-standing rivalry with Ruhr neighbours Borussia Dortmund, and games between the teams are referred to as "Der Revierderby."